Essay On Wealth In Herman Hesse's Siddhartha

Growing up in a family where both my parents came from poor immigrant backgrounds always made financial success a priority and when there was no need to be frugal, my parents did seem happier. But did money buy my parents’ happiness or did money lead to their happiness? Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener attempt to answer that question in their excerpt “Can Money Buy Happiness,” where they claim that “[m]oney can be a help in attaining psychological wealth, but it should be considered in the bigger picture of what makes people general genuinely rich (Biswas-Diener 161). Although not explicitly defined by Diener and Biswas-Diener, “psychological wealth” is the overall measure of happiness, beyond just fiscal affluence, including positive ties with other individuals and joyful temperaments (Biswas-Diener 168). By extending Biswas-Diener and Diener’s idea of “psychological wealth” to include the perception of what wealth is and what wealth consists of beyond monetary success, such as achievements or fulfillment, there exist a copious number of ways to view wealth. One can be rich in more than finances and happiness is dependent upon the perception of wealth due to money being one of several paths, including deliberate effort and being positive, to “psychological wealth” which leads to happiness.

“Yes, he thought breather deeply, I will no longer try to escape from Siddhartha. I will learn from myself, be my own pupil; I will learn from myself the secret of Siddhartha.” (Page 32)

The wife of Bath is correct when she says that the truly rich are the people who refuse to needlessly covet what they cannot have. My friend Nicole is wealthy and has a large amount of money at her disposal, despite that she is constantly wishing for what is unattainable such as popularity and boyfriends. As a result, Nicole has a tendency to be unhappy. Although Nicole does have of worldly goods, I'd venture to guess she doesn't believe her money makes her rich. Material processions and money are both convenient resources, and people are inclined to utilize them; nonetheless, money does not induce jubilation. While I wouldn't

“Siddhartha had one single goal-to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, and sorrow - to let the self-die” (11). As a young Indian, Siddhartha “suffered thirst,” he thirsted for knowledge. This philosophy leads him on the path of

In Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, the main character Siddhartha tries to reach freedom of suffering, known as Nirvana. In order to do so, Siddhartha encounters a journey with following Samanas, a group of people who believe denying one’s self can lead to happiness. At one point, he also completely breaks away from Buddhism. He was trying to let his Atman be happy. “Atman means eternal self” (Flood 1). However, Siddhartha had focused either too much or too little on his Atman, making his path to Nirvana difficult.

While on this self-discovery journey, Siddhartha is forced to experience the sensual and material world which causes him to lose touch with his inner voice. The ultimate goal of Siddhartha’s journey is to reach Nirvana. Nirvana can be seen as a

Acting as a spiritual guide, Vasudeva teaches Siddhartha to learn from the river, which realistically is Siddhartha for all aspects of life are unified. The two ferrymen come to think of the river as “… the voice of life, the voice of Being, of perpetual Becoming” (Hesse 88). The river holds all the answers Siddhartha needs, including how to find love, gratitude and unity, while serving as his spiritual guide to Nirvana. When Little Siddhartha leaves Siddhartha to follow his own path, just as Siddhartha had done to his father, he uses two lessons that he learns from the river to heal his wounded heart: patience and listening. These lessons bring him closer to enlightenment and help him discover “… that love is the most important thing in the world” (Hesse 119). This is the last lesson Siddhartha needs to learn before reaching Nirvana. Great irony resides in the fact that Siddhartha contemplates suicide by the river and reaches enlightenment there too, because when he contemplates ending his life, he awakens and begins a new life of universal unity ending his past

Then what penetrates his conciseness is the "OM" of "perfect completion". He gazes at the river, noting that what he hears is the voice of its current speaking powerfully and purely. Siddhartha dies in the water, but becomes reborn anew. Through this, he obtains his salvation and achieves his harmonious relationship with the world, which is nirvana. Through contemplation of the river, Siddhartha learns to understand every aspect of life. He notices that it exists always the same and yet at every moment new. This symbolizes the circle of life. The river also brought little Siddhartha and Govinda both to Siddhartha. The defiance of his son resembles his own towards his father , which demonstrates life's full circle. He and Govinda are later reunited by the river after taking separate paths. Furthermore, the river teaches Siddhartha that time has no existence; it just flows eternally. His soul, even after death, shall continue to flow eternally. Throughout the story the river guides Siddhartha, enabling him to find oneness among his experiences. As Siddhartha achieves his peace and self through the river, he smiles as the perfect Buddha does, for he has found true

The tone of this scene starkly contrasts the dark and despairing tone of Siddhartha’s initial arrival on the riverbank and his subsequent suicide attempt. Lighter, and infused with Siddhartha’s refound joy, this section begins with the loss of his regret over his years spent gambling and partaking in more carnal pleasures. While the diction at points is still negatively connotated the tone overall remains light, relegating such feelings to the past. With the statement "it is a good thing to experience everything for oneself, which one needs to know,” (Hesse 98). Hesse conveys to the reader that the so-called mistakes of the past are not to be condemned but rather accepted as a needed stepping stone towards your “destiny.” By using “one” rather than Siddhartha continuing to speak in the first person the statement seems to be not only directed at Siddhartha but to the reader themselves. Siddhartha considers this transformation, thinking to himself “If this bird within him had died, would he have perished? No, something else from within him had died, something which he had long desired should perish,”(Hesse 99) illustrating that what he thought was joy dying was, in fact, the loss of the part of himself which he has tried to abandon since childhood, which offers a sense of relief and

Unlike many people he treated business as a game and did not stress over his failures and did not praise his success. As a result, Siddhartha was able to go from “rags to riches.” Over time however, Hesse writes, “Gradually, along with his growing riches, Siddhartha himself acquired some of the characteristics of the ordinary people, some of their childishness and some of their anxiety” (77). Though Siddhartha envied them for the one thing he lacked, the sense of importance with which they lived their lives.

Kamala as well he had held dear, even to the point of bearing his child. Although, it took Siddhartha a moment to recognize him. Kamala had to bring him up, asking “Did you recognize him too? He is your son.” If Kamala had gotten bored of Siddhartha years ago, she wouldn’t have had a child with him. Instead though, she did find interest in him, even once stating he the best lover she ever had. Siddhartha let himself lose his worries within such actions with her, but if he hadn’t, he could have found himself never finding happiness. Having a son helped him have another focus. Siddhartha also found comfort in Kamala though, stating that “You are like me, you are different from other people.” With the Samanas, Siddhartha had realized all life is connected and shares a soul. However, he felt lost and saw that Kamala had felt so too. Everyone else seemed to be able to enjoy themselves, be content. They couldn’t however, wanting to know and experience more than they should normally. The main way that the two are the same is that Kamala shared his unhappy nature: “Weariness was written on Kamala’s beautiful face, weariness from continuing along a path which had no joyous goal.” Both her and Siddhartha had been spending decades trying to find a purpose or happiness in their life. All they knew at first were fake pleasures of being high standard, looked up to and expected to be a role model. That didn’t suit them though, and

For instance, when Kamaswami sends Siddhartha out to collect a rice harvest from a nearby and Siddhartha returns a few days later Siddhartha returns and says that “the rice was already sold to another merchant. However, Siddhartha remained in that village several days, entertained the farmers, gave money to the children, attended a wedding and returned from the the journey satisfied.”(Hesse 67,68). This shows that even if we don’t get in the reasons for a journey that we can enjoy the journey itself. We can enjoy what the location has to offer, because more often than not the outcome of experiences like this are far greater than what we originally planned to do.

Does money buy happiness? Money has always been a topic that makes people either uncomfortable or boastful in the sense that they believe they have a great deal or not nearly enough of. Nearly 3 billion humans, half the world’s population, lives in poverty with 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty. According to The World Bank website, “...the degree of happiness in 24 countries found that self-reported levels of happiness were higher in poor and middle-income countries than in rich ones, seemingly confirming popular beliefs.” Why is that? It would seem that the richer, more fortunate people nowadays try to find happiness in materialistic items that only money can buy. On the other hand, the less fortunate are more content, finding happiness in the little things like food, toys, or even new clothes. Though the poor do not have much money, they are driven by pure want and happiness, rather than greed and physical item that motivates many of the rich.

Whenever society thinks of money the majority wish they had more. That's true personally with me as I assume it is with you. When you picture your life with more money we get happier, worries seem to vanish, it is a perfect life. Money in this context does lead to happiness. Unfortunately, money and happiness, like life isn't black and white. Life is gray, life is dark at times and having money on your side won't always lead to happiness, but at the same time can boost your happiness in certain aspects and help many people find happiness and relieves stress and woes.

In conclusion, the love of money is the root of all evil and destruction. Lawrence along with today’s researches points out how money cannot buy happiness. However people do not revolve their happiness around money and those who put money to good use can achieve or maintain a happy